No Kingdom Hearts 3 By 2012

Just in case you were expecting the sequel to suddenly get announced and see release next year.

By Anoop Gantayat

Were you somehow expecting Square Enix to announce Kingdom Hearts 3 at next year's E3 and get it out in record time before the end of the year?

No, of course you weren't. So Tetsuya Nomura's latest comments in Japan's Dengeki PlayStation magazine shouldn't come as a surprise.

Nomura told the magazine, "2012 is the 10th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, so we'd like to celebrate in some way. However, I'll say this in advance, just because it's the 10th anniversary, Kingdom Hearts 3 still won't be out."

He appeared to be saying this jokingly to the magazine, but a glance at Square Enix's release schedule suggests that he's probably right.

Japan will be getting Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded for DS next month. The Japanese "Final Mix" re-release of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, with additional content including a new "secret movie," will hit PSP in January.

In a Famitsu interview last week, Nomura said that following these two, Kingdom Hearts 3DS would be the next title for the series. Staff members from Birth By Sleep will be moving over to the Kingdom Hearts 3DS project as they finish up their work on Final Mix.

Add to that Final Fantasy Versus XIII which wont show its true form until January, and a release of 2012 or beyond for Kingdom Hearts 3 doesn't sound too farfetched.